Affordability and resiliency
This curious alternative to the traditional buildings is an option in countries where there is a significant competition for the land use or where administration is promoting a diversification of the touristic options. Among others, the advantages are that the house can be easily relocated and the considerable savings in foundations. As it has been explained before, UHPC is a particularly interesting material in applications submitted to aggressive environments and there where lightness is relevant. Floating houses are a clear example of an application that requires both, particularly in cases where they are installed on marine waters.
Advantages:
- Reducing the thickness of the walls allows not only to minimize the draft of the structure to reduce the hydrodynamic forces, but it also gives viability to the buoyancy of smaller housing units, which would not float if made with ordinary concrete.
- The UHPC floating house as an incredible strength against the impact of a boat or a rock.
- The UHPC wall has autogenous self-healing capacity, avoiding problems in case that an accidental microcrack appears.
- The abrasion strength of UHPC is significantly higher than for the ordinary concrete, so the periodic cleaning of the biofouling will not significantly degrade the surface.
- As the floating UHPC is lighter than similar options with ordinary concretes, the transportation and commissioning costs and the moorings are more economic.
